MONTHLY SUMMARY

   January saw the unsettled, wet and mild theme of winter continue and was both warmer and wetter than average and by some distance the wettest month of the year with 195.1 mm. It was always going to be an improvement on 'Desmond December' and indeed the January's of 2013+14 were both wetter than January 2016. However, rain on 26 days in the month, relentlessly dull skies and with the month becoming wetter after a mid month lull, the sense of 'Will it ever end?' did take hold!

   The month was mild and unsettled at both the start and end with a notable dip in temperatures around mid month, which also had a slight wintry flavour. After that mid month cold snap it became increasingly wet and very mild from the 22nd and the mean temperature for the month, that had dropped below average during the cold snap, would now recover with eight of the last ten days attaining at least 10°c.

   February brought the wettest winter on record to and end and whilst marginally cooler than average it was also wetter than average. It was mild and wet to start, then drier and cooler with frosts becoming common after mid month.

   Overall it was a bit of a mixed picture, having both mild and cold spells, but at last we got to see a little sun, and something more typical of winter. However, a cold end to the month just managed to off-set the mild start to see a slightly cooler than average month, but the dry finish to the month couldn't do the same and we finished wetter than average.

   The month started unsettled with 'Storm Henry' bringing gale force winds, although little rain, with the month's heaviest rain coming during the 5-8th and then on the 16th. The first frosts came as late as the 10th and then apart from a slightly milder interlude 19th-21st, the month became gradually cooler and drier with frosts recorded every day from the 23rd. However, any snowfall was insignificant and caused no disruption.

   Once again all three winter months had recorded over 100 mm of rain and not surprisingly, locally, it was the wettest winter on record and by a very wide margin.

   March was an average month that finished marginally cooler and with rainfall exactly on average. It was wet at both ends, but had a 15 day drought during the 9th-23rd.

   After a cool first third of the month, part of which was under an Arctic airflow and thus wintry in nature, it progressively became a little warmer. And after virtually incessant rainfall since the end of October, we finally had a month, which whilst having average rainfall, actually had more days without rain than days with. Under high pressure from the 10th and remaining in control until the 23rd, we had that 15 day 'Absolute Drought' when no measurable rain was recorded and which also brought some sunny days.

   However, March was, on the whole, very average, but with Easter falling early this year (25-28th) it had the misfortune to immediately follow the drought and experienced a break down in the weather that saw the Saturday become the month's wettest day, with showers and sunny intervals on Easter Sunday.

   April was a backward month, both colder and wetter than average and which after spring arrived, 19th-21st, saw a return to winter through to the month's end.

   Cool and wet was the general theme and when you consider that the month was 1.33°c colder than December 2015 you get an idea of the topsy-turvey weather that we had experienced over the previous six months. April may not have been anything dramatically out of the ordinary, but following the first taste of spring, for it to return to something more akin of winter at the end of the month, was the proverbial shock to the system.

   The frequency of April being colder than the December that preceded it is fairly rare, at the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg it has occurred in 1921-22, 1934-35 and 1988-89. The occasions when April was colder than December in the same calendar year being: 1922, 1934, 1941, 1953 and 2015.

   Generally quiet during May and which was both warmer and drier than average and with plenty of sunshine.

   Add decent to quiet, as it enjoyed plenty of dry and sunny days, best during the 6-12th and again at the end of the month with the little rain that we did have tending to fall either as showers and/or at night. It was also the driest of any month since September 2014, but which would be beaten by October as the driest of 2016.

   Unsettled at the very start of the month before an easterly flow brought the first taste of summer from the 6th. It became unsettled during the 17th to 22nd, before that fine end to the month.

   The spring of 2016 with 196.3 mm of rain was the driest since 2010 and at Newton Rigg in comparison to the 1981-2010 averages it was 0.2°c colder than average.

   In a series back to 1900 (1 year of incomplete data), spring has been drier on 34 occasions and wetter on 81 and in a complete series back to 1956, 27 have been warmer and 33 colder.

   June was wetter and much warmer than average with high night-time minima notable. Warm and thundery at the start, becoming cooler and unsettled towards the end of the month.

   The month started well with increasing temperatures and plenty of sun, but became hot and humid from the 6th with thunder heard on most days up to the 10th. Whilst temperatures remained above average, especially by night, the general theme then became more unsettled, although in general Cumbria avoided the worst of any rain and/or thunderstorms and daily rainfall totals were slight. However, the final five days of the month saw a more mobile and cooler westerly flow with rain becoming heavier and more frequent.

   One curiosity about June is that prior to this year the 3rd June was the driest day of the year in my nine years of rainfall records, only having recorded 0.2 mm on two occasions (2008 and 2013) and the 13-15th after seven years were the only days in June not to have attained 20°c - after 2016 these two records are still intact.

   Drier and marginally cooler than average in July, the month being fairly flat and quiet with a lack of warm days and sunshine with low pressure the more dominant feature.

   The month simply passed by without ever getting going, having few warm days and the lack of sun was fairly noticeable. Whilst pressure never fell too low and was indeed average for July, low pressure systems generally dominated and were never too far away from the UK. During a brief warmer period, 18th-23rd, the 19th gave one especially warm day, the warmest day of the year at 29.5°c (85.1°f), but was followed on the 20th by a decent thunderstorm that lasted all morning.

   The frequency of cloudy nights and thus high night-time minima was the main reason for the month's mean temperature being only marginally colder than average and indeed the mean minimum temperature was just warmer than average with the mean maximum showing a departure of just over 1°c below normal.

   August was a mixed month, both marginally warmer and wetter than average and had no prolonged warm or dry spell, the 15-18th being the best on offer.

   It also just never real got going. Whilst there were some good days, they were infrequent and often followed or preceded by something less good. The month started unsettled and was generally changeable during the first fortnight with a slight shift to more settled weather in the second half. However, the 20th had a notably vigorous depression for the time of year which brought a period of wet and windy conditions, 34.0 mm of rain been recorded and which contributed towards August being the second wettest month of the year with 133.0 mm.

  Summer rainfall was bang on average and despite the lack of warm days still managed to finish with a mean temperature of 14.54°c. At Newton Rigg rainfall of 277.8 mm and a mean temperature of 14.6°c in comparison to the 1981-2010 averages represented 139.7% of summer rainfall and it was 0.4°c warmer than average.

   In a series back to 1900 (3 years of incomplete data), this was the 20th wettest and in a complete series back to 1957, 10 have been warmer, 46 have been colder, with 3 having the same mean temperature.

   With a mean temperature of 14.08°c, some 1.8°c above the 1981-2010 average September was the second warmest on record to that of 2006.

   So very mild with night-time minima significantly above average, showing a departure of over 2° from the norm'. Both the 6-7th and 12-15th saw a feed of warm air from the south that resulted in temperatures well above the 20°c mark (24.7°c on the 15th) and which culminated in a sharp thunderstorm on the 13th.

   However, the month started and finished unsettled and whilst rainfall was never that heavy or prolonged, it was frequent.

   It will not be very often that you will say that the driest month of the year was ... October totalling just 23.9 mm.

   Indeed it was a fine month with high pressure dominant for significant lengthy periods and hence it was extremely dry with the temperature very marginally above average.

   For much of the time the high pressure was centred over Scandinavia, bringing easterly winds, but with Cumbria generally sheltered from any showers and subsequently enjoying plenty of sunshine. It became slightly unsettled at mid-month after which high pressure once again became dominant.

   MSLP of 1023.3 Mb was +12.4 Mb above the local average, a significant departure from the norm' and further evidence of just how dominant and prolonged the spells of high pressure were. Consequently rainfall was insignificant, never heavy nor prolonged, albeit from mid month especially and under cloudier skies, there were occasional very light showers/spells of rain.

   November was almost perfect - cold, wintry at times, below average rainfall with above average sunshine and was a fine autumnal month. It even had the coldest temperature of the year as well, -5.7°c on the 26th.

   This is how the last month of autumn should be and whilst it was much colder than average with overnight frosts both common and hard at times, it was also much drier than average. Despite some wintry weather, there were a good number of decent sunny days, especially the 1st-2nd and then 23rd-26th, the latter in particular being quite glorious.

   The 2cms of snow that lay on the ground of the morning of the 9th is the earliest such date to record a 'day of laying snow' at this site. Rain on 20 days during the month may seem slightly high, but two of those were just from a large accumulation of frost (melted) and the rain/snow that we did have was never that significant, at its heaviest during the 16-18th.

   The final week of the month saw the sun shine that little bit more and was when the frosts were are their hardest.

   Subsequently at 3.64°c the temperature was 2.3°c below the 1981-2010 average and it was the coldest November (of 8) yet recorded at this site.

    AUTUMN

   It must be said that this autumn Was quite agreeable. September was unduly warm, yet November was equally as cold with October virtually average. Rainfall was notably less than average, October being especially dry and only September was wetter than average.

   Maulds Meaburn recorded 200.6 mm of rain (Crosby Ravensworth 225.2 mm) the driest since 2007 and is the 2nd driest of the ten now recorded.

   At Newton Rigg rainfall totalled 218.4 mm and had a mean temperature of 9.02°c. In comparison to the 1981-2010 averages this represented 77.1 % of autumn rainfall and it was 0.1°c colder than average.

   This makes the autumn of 2016 the 33rd driest in a series back to 1900 (2 yrs of missing data) and with 28 having been colder, 31 warmer and 4 having the same mean temperature in a series back to 1953.

   The year finished on a quiet note with December being mild with a distinct lack of wintry weather, often dull, but with below average rainfall of 75.3 mm.

   A mean temperature of 5.86°c was well above average by 2.5°c and apart from a very wet day on the 23rd, rainfall during the rest of the month tended to be patchy and light, with the month having both a dry start and end, it being the driest December since 2010.

   MSLP of 1023.3 Mb was a notable +11.2 Mb above the local average high pressure frequent during the month, especially at both ends and it was also the first December (of 8) in my records in which pressure has failed to drop below 1000 Mb during the entire month.

   The following is the monthly breakdown of the weather at Shap during 2016.

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                                  * 2016                 TEMP'     8.89°c         --          RAIN    1072.1 mm

                                  * 2015                 TEMP'     8.75°c         --          RAIN    1663.8 mm

                                  * 2014                 TEMP'     9.58°c         --          RAIN    1343.8 mm

                                  * 2013                 TEMP'     8.49°c         --          RAIN    1232.1 mm

                                  * 2012                 TEMP'     8.26°c         --          RAIN    1415.9 mm

                                  * 2011                 TEMP'     9.17°c         --          RAIN    1305.4 mm

                                  * 2010                 TEMP'     7.42°c         --          RAIN     702.9 mm

                                  * 2009                 TEMP'     8.86°c         --          RAIN    1264.5 mm

                                  * 2008                 TEMP'                    --          RAIN    1381.3 mm